Marc Molinaro faces uphill climb vs. Andrew Cuomo: poll

Marc Molinaro has a long way to go to earn New Yorkers' votes in the upcoming gubernatorial race.

The Dutchess County Executive is not only a heavy underdog to incumbent Democrat Andrew Cuomo, but more than three-quarters of registered New York voters in a Siena College poll released Monday said they don't know or have no opinion of him.

Molinaro, a Republican, will publicly launch his campaign for governor on April 2, according to his campaign.

MARC MOLINARO: 'Outpouring' of support led to change of heart on governor run

ZEROING IN: Molinaro gets closer to locking up GOP nod for governor

Should Molinaro win the Republican nomination and face Cuomo in the Nov. 6 election, 57 percent of 772 voters polled said they would vote for Cuomo, and 29 percent said they would vote for Molinaro.

Seventy-seven percent said they did not know of Molinaro or had no opinion of him, including 79 percent of Republicans. However, 66 percent of Republicans said they would vote for him over Cuomo, as did 38 percent of independents. 

Syracuse Sen. John DeFrancisco, another Repulican vying for the nomination, is favored over Molinaro by those polled, 21 percent to 17 percent, with 49 percent saying they did not know or had no opinion.

Actress Cynthia Nixon, known for her role on HBO's "Sex and the City" is likewise facing a steep climb as a Democratic candidate. Among registered Democrats, Cuomo was favored 66 percent to 19 percent over Nixon, and among self-identified liberals, who Nixon would want to court specifically, Cuomo held a similar lead.

Sixty percent of voters said they had no opinion of Nixon, who announced on Twitter Monday her intention to run for her first political office.

Cuomo's support against the Republican candidates was strongest in New York City, followed by the city's suburbs. Upstate, Cuomo was running about even against the GOP hopefuls.

"Cuomo has the support of more than 80 percent of Democrats against either, while two-thirds of Republicans would support either over Cuomo," Steven Greenberg, a spokesman for the Siena poll, said in a statement. 

“Cuomo has the support of a small plurality of independents against either and strong support from downstate voters, while upstate voters are closely divided between Cuomo and either Republican."

Molinaro, 42, has positioned himself as the favorite to lock up the GOP nomination, having picked up support from county Republican leaders representing 46 percent of the party's weighted vote as of last week, assuming individual delegates vote with their county leader.

Dutchess County's executive since 2012, Molinaro previously served five years in the  state Assembly. He also served as the mayor of Tivoli.

Republican Party leaders will gather in May to vote for their preferred candidate to challenge Cuomo, assuming Cuomo can navigate a primary field himself.

In addition to Nixon, Cuomo was already facing a challenge from former state Sen. Terry Gipson, D-Rhinebeck.